Column: Stanford coach David Shaw hurt NFL reputation in Rose Bowl

PASADENA, Calif. — And to think David Shaw began the day among the most sought-after coaches in college football, a guy who could write his own ticket to the NFL.

The only word the Stanford coach needed to utter was a simple yes, and any number of teams would have handed him the keys to their kingdoms.

That is how well-respected Shaw was before his Cardinal took the field against Michigan State in Wednesday’s Rose Bowl.

That is how high he was perched atop the lists of the handful of teams seeking new head coaches, many of which have been linked to him for weeks.

Now, maybe not so much.

At the risk of delaying the evolution of a career on a handful of sequences in one stubbornly coached game, you have to wonder what the next level thinks today about Shaw, who most certainly will get the chance to coach in the NFL at some point but perhaps not as soon as we originally thought.

It might be a moot point as Shaw has shown no inclination of leaving his current job for the riches and challenges of the NFL, but after some of the head-scratching decisions he made Wednesday in a 24-20 loss to the Spartans the choice no longer may be his to make.

For now, anyway.

Make no mistake this was a winnable game for the Cardinal.

But the combination of Shaw’s vanilla game plan, his obstinate play-calling and the Cardinal’s utter lack of urgency late in the fourth quarter as they tried to rally from a 4-point deficit were just as culpable as anything Michigan State did.

On third and two Stanford again ran it, this time turning to Tyler Gaffney who managed just one yard.

The Cardinal, still not acting like a team facing a deficit and an unfriendly clock, called their final timeout with 1:46 remaining.

Stanford, back on the field facing fourth and one, lined up in its tight, jumbo formation in which seven players squeeze together on the line of scrimmage and two blockers flank an up back behind Hogan.

Michigan State immediately called a timeout to counter the formation, but rather than switch up the alignment Stanford lined up exactly the same way as play resumed and handed off to fullback Ryan Hewitt, who was stopped for no gain to turn the ball, and game, over to Michigan State.

On the most important drive of the season Stanford ran it four consecutive times against the nation’s top-ranked run defense.

Facing a critical fourth down, the Cardinal admittedly lined up in a formation that left little doubt what they were doing and then proceeded to hand the ball off to the guy everyone in the stadium knew was getting it.

And against a team that takes particular pride in stuffing the run.

“We take pride in that,” Gaffney said. “Fourth and one is what we preach on, what we do, what Stanford football is all about.”

Even when everyone in the stadium knows what’s coming?

“Absolutely, because when I don’t do that everybody goes crazy,” Shaw said. “We should have done this, we should have done that, so I don’t worry about any of that stuff.”

Neither did Michigan State.

The Spartans didn’t worry about a pass, an audible or a check-down.

They loaded up against the run, as they are so proficient in doing, and crushed Hewitt for no gain.

“It looked initially like we were going to get the push,” Shaw said. “And then we got stopped up front.”

Funny how that works when nine guys stack the line of scrimmage and know exactly what is coming.

There is no denying Shaw is a good young coach. He took over for Jim Harbaugh three years ago and the Cardinal have not missed a beat while advancing to three BCS Bowl games and two consecutive Rose Bowls.

There also is something commendable about having so much conviction in what you do you keep on doing it no matter what the other team does or how they defend it.

“I’m going to put the ball in the hands of our guys and put it on the offensive line,” Shaw said. “We’re going to go for it on fourth down in that situation, because we’ll put it back on our defense. We’ll go for a field goal down by four, because we put it on our defense to get the ball back.”

Perhaps, but there is confidence and then there is pure arrogance, and Shaw and the Cardinal let pride get in the way of better judgment Wednesday.

They lined up against a team every big as bit and physical as they are intent on imposing their will.

But when the Spartans imposed their will instead by stopping the run — Stanford managed just 60 yards rushing in the second half — not only did the Cardinal not have an alternative go-to plan they showed no desire to even create one.

They simply did the same thing over and over and over — running it 21 times in the second half against just seven passes and managing just a fourth-quarter field goal.

That isn’t good coaching. It’s stubbornness.

And on Wednesday it may have cost Stanford the Rose Bowl.

Shaw certainly will grow from this, but you have to believe the NFL was paying attention Wednesday.

And not exactly liking what they saw.

Vincent Bonsignore is a columnist for The Los Angeles Daily News. Follow him on Twitter @DailyNewsVinny.